Force of Nature
by Reina Valeria Nox
Summary: Four horsemen, four archangels, four elements, four siblings. Dean, Sam, Jamie, and Adam have finally found a way to defeat Lucifer on their own terms. As each sibling struggles to control their new ability new bonds are formed, old wounds are opened, an army rises, and family has never been more important. Spins off the end of Season 5 of my "I am the Other" fic.
1. prologue getting our baby brother back

A/n: Four horsemen, four archangels, four elements, four siblings.

When Jamie rescues Adam from the angels they discover that the horsemen's rings unlock more then just Lucifer's cage. Each ring is the key to one of the four elements, a power that may make them strong enough to defeat Lucifer on their own terms.

The tide is finally turning in their favor, but with power comes price. Dean must overcome his memories of hell if he is to embrace his new found ability. Sam, weakened by guilt, must first strive for forgiveness before he finds redemption. Jamie's prophet status endangers not only herself but also her brothers in the face of an angry archangel. And Adam struggles to find acceptance and belonging in the family he has never known.

Pairings: Dean/Castiel, Sam/Gabriel, Jamie/Michael, Adam/Samandriel. There will be a little bit of implied Adam/Michael here and there. Definitely some angst!Sam/Lucifer and maybe I'll thrown in some Michael/Lucifer near the end.

Starts in the middle of 5.21

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"Jamie."

Jamie Winchester moved her blonde hair away from her face as she slammed the hood of her truck and looked toward the sound of her name. Crowley, king of the crossroads, stood a few feet away, a smug grin on his face. "What are you doing here, Crowley?" Her voice was harsh as her sapphire eyes focused on the demon.

"I figured it was a bit unfair to leave you out of the action. Afterall, Dean has his death mission, Sam has to stop the croats, where does that leave you, prophetess." She scowled at the sound of her title on his lips. "And there is one more thing you and your brothers want, isn't there?" She could detect the illusiveness in his voice and she didn't like it. She took a step forward, crossing her arms defensively. "Oh I've got your interest peaked, don't I…prophetess?" The way her title rolled off his tongue sent a cold shiver down her spine. It took a second but the psychic pull of her telepathic power brought his thoughts into her mind, and she saw only one face. Young, pale, blonde hair, and eyes as blue as her own. Her baby brother, Adam.

"Adam." She sucked her breath in sharply. "You know where Adam is?" Her eyes found the demon's face and he nodded. "But…Michael. Michael has him." She and Dean had failed to get Adam out in time. Zachariah had hurt both him and Sam, and she and Dean had been trying to pull both brothers from the room before the archangel appeared. Dean had him, had him in his arms, but Michael was there. She tried to pull them threw, but Michael caught Adam and slammed the door behind Dean, sealing their youngest brother from them. The anger she felt even now…especially because Michael had blocked Adam from her precognition. She couldn't see him, and no vision would last long enough to find where the angels had hid him.

"Yes, which is why you're the only one who can get to him." He held out a map with a dark red X on the middle. "You're Michael's prophetess, that gives you unlimited access to Heaven's general. And his hostage." She grabbed the map and Crowley disappeared. Glancing down at the map with a sigh, she whirled around and went to find Dean and Sam.

Her brothers were in the house, packing Sam's duffel in silence. Her eyes scanned over the mess of ammunition and salt rounds. "Jamie." It's Dean who acknowledges her first. Sam looks up at the sound of her name. "You got everything?"

"I'm not going." She says firmly. This causes Dean to look up, his eyes questioning. She holds up a map. "I'm going to rescue Adam."

"Where did you get that?" Sam asks, gesturing for it.

"Crowley." She answers. Dean sighs, a petulant look on his features. "Dean I've got to try. He's our brother too."

"I know." Dean rests his hands first on his hips and then reaches up to rub his neck. "Alright. Death is my bag. Sam, you have to go with Cas and Bobby. And Jamie, are you alright flying solo?" It's been a long time since she's worked a job alone. A very long time. Not since she was a rebellious teenager who snuck out of her dorm after lights out to hunt ghosts. After a moment she nods. "Alright then. Good luck." He grabs her neck and pulls her in to kiss her forehead. As he does so he slips the jar of holy oil into her hand.

"I'll see you and Adam when I get back." Sam tells her, also planting a kiss on her forehead. He hands her Castiel's neglected angel blade. She glances back at her brothers one last time before rushing back out to her truck.

The drive is long, longer then she expected. The warehouse where Adam is held is hidden and hard to locate. For a normal person, but not for a Winchester. Even without her psychic abilities, and the enhanced senses of a prophet, she could track this location. Her father taught her this. Silently she prays for success. Silently she apologizes to Michael for what she is about to do. She doesn't hate the archangel, in fact she might even understand him, afterall he had siblings to protect and a world to save, even if he didn't care about humans. But she hates his actions. And she needs to get to her brother. Adam may be her baby half brother that's she's only met twice, and the first time he was a ghoul in disguise, but he is still her brother, her blood.

She parks her truck about a half mile from the site, hiding it under brush and leaves. She stashes a small bag with holy oil, the angel blade, holy water, and salt, even though she's positive it won't work. Her flashlight, handgun, and knife she straps into her utility belt, hiding it under her black canvas jacket. It's a paradox, but she hangs a St. Michael's medal around her neck before rushing off for the warehouse.

Even from outside the barbed wire fence she can feel the warding. Demonic, angelic, and otherwise. The sigil Castiel branded on her ribs almost burns as she closes in. She scales the fence with ease, but it alerts the two angels standing guard at the back entrance. Before they can even move a muscle she holds her hand out. "Ego vox clamantis in deserto. Tu non tangere me."

They drop to their knees with mutters of "Prophetess." She is no ordinary prophet. She is the Voice. The one who will narrate the Apocalypse. The one who will stand at Michael's right hand in Paradise. She swallows thickly and shoves the door open with her telekinesis. The air is stale inside, the warehouse has been abandoned for years. She coughs as a blast of dust greets her. "Don't worry, Adam. I'm here." She whispers, creeping down a dark hallway.

She can feel him. It's not a prophet thing. It's not a psychic thing. It's a family thing. She flings the door open with a strong blast of telekinesis, only to be greeted by five angels, standing in a protective circle around Adam, whose tried to a chair unconscious. "Prophetess." One angel, wearing the meatsuit of a blonde woman, recognizes her seconds before the others sense her status.

"Jamie Winchester." Venom coats her name at the lips of another. She may be Michael's prophet, but she is also a Winchester, and the Winchesters are not well regarded in Heaven. If they were not the vessels, they would have destroyed long ago.

"Ave Prophetissa." That voice she recognizes, and it comes from behind her, not in front. She whirls around to face Raphael, who grins at the sight of her.

"Ave Raphael archangele." She mutters, unable to help it.

"Quid hic agis?" He inquires, walking around her in a sharp circle.

"Ego hic frater meus." She follows him with her eyes. "Dabis frater meus ad me."

Raphael throws his head back and laughs. "Illud quod facit putas volo?"

"Deus praecipit." Confident. She had to be confident, and firm, and strong. She had authority here, even though she was technically in exile. The result of choosing her brothers over the angels and allowing her ribs to be branded, but she knew even exile was all part of the grand design. She would called out of exile when the Apocalypse began.

"Deus? Deus est mortuus."

"Vivit Deo. Ego loquor pro Deo. Ego loquor pro Michael."

For the second time Raphael laughed at her. Jamie's eyes narrowed and she unsheathed the angel blade from her bag, holding it on Raphael. The angel's eyes glistened in amusement. "Five angels are here at my command, Michael is watching in Heaven, what makes you think you can pull this off?"

"I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord." She hissed between clenched teeth reciting the passage in John. "You will not touch me." She ordered the other angels without taking her eyes off Raphael. "I am the servant of Michael, and only he can command me. If you lay a hand on me, he will smite you. Even you, Raphael." She shoved the blade against his chest so that it nicked his flesh a little. "Depart to Heaven. All of you. This is the command of Michael's prophetess." Three of the angels disappeared immediately. Two hung back, their eyes locked on Raphael. "I will not say this again!" She hissed. "Ego vox clamantis in deserto!" They immediately disappeared.

Jamie stared down Raphael, the angel blade still pressed firmly against his chest. "You've finally gotten your confidence back, prophetess." He tells her with an almost genuine smile. "I haven't seen you this…strong, brave, true, since before what's his name died…AJ was it?" Too late the pain appears on Jamie's face. AJ, her partner, her lover, her fiancé, murdered by Lilith in the final days before Dean's deal was up. "Ahh yes, that's still an open wound in your heart isn't it. I can bring him back, Jamie. Michael can bring him back."

Her breath comes in sharp pants, and she trembles just a little. "No." She says finally, stoning herself against the pain and the memories. "I'm here for my brother. You will go back to Heaven Raphael. And you will tell Michael that the Winchesters are not his chess pieces. Go!" Raphael laughs at her one last time and disappears. She falls against the wall, breathing heavily for a few minutes before whirling and rushing to Adam.

"Adam. Hey." She kneels down in front of him and takes the gag out of his mouth. He opens weak eyes and stares at her. "You're going to be okay, come on." She uses the angel blade to slice the ropes that bind his wrists, and hauls him to his feet. He's too light and yet as heavy as dead weight. She drapes one of his arms over her shoulders and pulls him along with her.

"Jamie?" He wakes with a start in the cab of her truck. His blue eyes search wildly until they fall on her.

"Calm down. You're alright. You're safe." She reaches one arm across to him and rests it in his lap. He reaches out and squeezes her hand.

"How did you-"

"I have no idea, honestly. I threw my weight around a little. I can't believe it worked." She steadied the stirring wheel and started to rifle around with her jacket.

"They…they told me that the prophetess was the servant of Michael, his right hand." She grabbed the wheel, keeping the truck straight and then laid her jacket over Adam. "They said you wouldn't rescue me because you couldn't go against him."

"Well they were wrong. Go back to sleep, Adam. We'll be at Bobby's soon enough."


	2. power of four

Sunlight crept into the study, shining through the sigils that littered the glass. Jamie opened her eyes slowly, yawning as she shifted to stretch and promptly banged into something hard and warm curled around her torso. Adam was huddled against her, his eyes squeezed shut in waking nightmare. Gently she unwound his arms from her, and quietly she slide off the bed, tucking the thin blanket around her baby brother before she padded barefoot into the kitchen, carefully stepping over Sam and Cas, who were laid out on the floor as she did so.

"Yur up early." Bobby's gruff voice penetrated through the early morning silence.

"I went to bed early." She replied, taking the mug of coffee that her surrogate uncle offered. "I didn't even hear you guys get back."

"That's cause we just got in bout 20 minutes ago."

"Oh. You hear from Dean?" She takes a sip of the mug, it's strong enough to knock her on her ass, bitter and black, but it gets the job done. The last remnants of sleep are gone, and her blue eyes are more alert now.

"Yeah, he's a couple hours out yet. Should be back soon." She doesn't get a chance to ask before Bobby quickly adds. "He didn't say anything about the ring."

Adam is still asleep when she finally hears the Impala's engine rumble and die outside. Sam is outside with a cooler of beer and a promise that she'd join him in a minute. She's reading some old book written in classical, pre-Church Latin, that she's found in a dark corner of the study. It hadn't seemed like much, but the more she reads the more interesting it becomes. Carefully she puts it down on the desk, the page earmarked and throws the crappy blanket back over Adam.

Castiel is still asleep on the floor, and if the world wasn't dying bloody she would have been tempted to take a picture and send it to her big brother so he could see how adorable his angel is all curled up like a cat. But the world is dying bloody and she just carefully steps over the power-stripped angel and heads out the door.

"Dean's back." She really doesn't have to say anything to Sam. She knows he knows. It's just a conversation starter. Sam, though, merely nods in acknowledgment, leaning harder on the hood of Bobby's car and says nothing when she grabs two beers out of the cooler.

"Did you get the ring?" She walked into the garage where Dean was leaning over a work bench, the rings of the horsemen on the table in front of him. She breathes in relief at the sight of four.

"Yeah. Look at this." Dean gestured for his little sister to come closer and then pulled the rings apart. They instantly flew back together, connecting to each other.

"Well that's creepy." She handed him one of the beers and leaned against the bench.

Dean stays quiet for a moment."Is Adam alright?"

It takes her a minute to answer. "Yeah, I got the kid back safe and sound." It really doesn't answer his question, but it's satisfactory for now, when Adam wakes up they'll both know how their baby half brother is really doing. "He's still asleep, though. Michael is probably pretty pissed, but he can bite me." She smirked and then took a long swig of her beer. "Bobby, Cas, and Sam stopped the demons. They're all okay."

Dean took a drink of his beer and nodded. "That's good. Death didn't have anything helpful about stopping Lucifer. Except-"

"Telling you and Sam to say yes? Yeah, I figured. They're all against us." Dean frowns into his beer and says nothing. "I don't know what to do anymore, besides letting Sam say yes." She adds, honestly, searching her brother's face for some spark of genius, for the beginnings of a plan, or hell just for a speck of advice but finds nothing. He doesn't have any idea either. "You're gonna say yes aren't you." It's not a question.

"I'm not gonna let Sammy die alone. If he says yes, someone's gotta get him into that cage. I just hope I can fight off Michael and he can fight off Lucifer long enough to do it."

"Well I'm Michael's right hand, I'll try to suppress him, and if you can't hold him I'll do whatever it takes. But this whole Voice thing, I don't know if I'll have control either. When it begins I have a job that I have to do, that I'll be forced to do."

"Well, we have Adam now too. We'll figure something out."

"Jamie? Dean?" The two siblings turn to see the aforementioned brother standing beside Sam. He's holding a book in his hands and when Jamie gives it a second look she realizes it's the book she's been reading from.

"What is it, Adam? Are you alright?" Dean immediately steps forward, his big brother instincts kicking into high gear.

"I think I know how we can stop the devil…without you guys saying yes." He's timid, and his fingers dig into the binding of the book like it's the Holy Grail itself.

For a long time Dean, Sam, and Jamie stare at each other, until finally the sister gestures to the book. "Is that the book I was reading this morning?" She can't think of anything else to say, the fact that Adam may have figured out a plan has left his older siblings speechless.

"Yeah. It's in here." Adam confirms what Jamie had not let herself hope. She instantly knows what he's referencing. The book speaks of quattuor, four, and quattuor quater, four times four as the key. "Quattuor is the key."

"What the hell is quattuor?" Dean asks, glancing towards Sam and Jamie.

"It's Latin for four, like the number." Sam answers, crossing his arms as he glances down at Adam. "But the key to what?"

"Ultimate power." Jamie answers, her eyes fixed on Adam. "Neopagans have this concept that the Earth is ruled by the balance of four. Four directions, four elements, four guardians, etc. And they aren't necessarily wrong, the number four does show up in other mythologies. Plato held to the concept of four elements."

"Four horsemen." Dean held up the rings so Adam and Sam could see them.

"And four archangels." Sam adds. "Before Lucifer fell."

"When Lucifer fell the Judeo-Christian numerology began to focus on three as the divine number instead of four, but think about it. Seven is the number of perfection, that's three plus four. Twelve is the number of government, of rule, of kingdom, and that's divisible by three and four." Jamie explains.

Dean looked skeptical. "Well that's all interesting but what the hell does it mean? How are we supposed to get this ultimate power?"

Adam frowns. "The book says something about 'quattuor quarter' four times four."

"So four horsemen, and four archangels." Sam reasons, counting on his fingers. "And four elements, right? So what's the last four?"

Jamie's eyes widen with realization. "It's right here." She gestures to herself and her brothers. "Four siblings."

"But that doesn't tell us how we get this power. What's the conduit?" Dean goes back over to the bench and starts playing with the rings.

"That is. It's gotta be about the rings. They harnass the horsemen's power-

Sam cuts Jamie off, realization dawning on his face as well."But they're also the key to Lucifer's cage, which means they're also tied to the archangels."

"Exactly. How much do you wanna bet they'd be tied to the elements too?"

"And then to us." Adam finishes. "We each have a ring, we have access to the element. And the element is the power. Put all four of them together, that's how we get Lucifer back in the cage."

"Well then what are we waiting for?" Dean snatches up the rings and pulls them apart. He starts to hand a ring to Jamie, but she shakes her head.

"Wait. It's not that simple. It's never that simple."

Adam nods. "She's right, Dean. We're probably tied to a specific ring, if we get the wrong ring it won't work."

Dean sighs, getting tired of being left out of the brain convention going on. "So how do we figure out which ring is whose? What list out all our redeeming qualities and see which one fits best with which?"

Sam grins. "Exactly."


	3. balancing act

Bobby knocks some books off a table and spreads out a blank piece of paper. Dean, Sam, Jamie, and Adam all crowd around. Dean drops the rings unto the center of the paper. "Okay, what do we know?" Bobby asks, looking at the four siblings.

Jamie grabs a pen and starts to scribble something down. "Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and Uriel are traditionally associated with South, West, East, and North, respectfully."

"Obviously Uriel is a late edition. A…revision." Sam offers. Jamie nods, crossing out Uriel's name and writing Lucifer in its place. "That could be just the beginning."

"Well we know some things for sure. Dean is Michael, and Sam you're Lucifer…no offense." Sam shrugs it off as Jamie writes Dean and Sam's names down. "Which leaves me and Adam and Gabriel and Raphael."

"How do we tell who is who?" Adam asks.

"Well Dean and Sam are who they are because of birth order. Firstborn son and younger brother. Why would it be different for us?"

Dean crosses his arms. "But whose older, Gabriel or Raphael?"

Sam looks up. "Remember when we found out the Trickster was Gabriel? The way he talked about Michael and Lucifer?"

Dean nods. "Yeah, he didn't say anything about Raphael at all. In fact, I've never heard any of them talk about Raphael."

"Wait a minute guys." Jamie tapped the pen against the table as if trying to reason something out. "Michael's vessels are all of our bloodline and ours alone. Lucifer's true vessel has to be Michael's vessel's brother. Gabriel has been missing from Heaven for millennia. And god knows the guy isn't exactly a monk. What if what makes us Michael's vessel is that we're-"

"Nephilia. Descendants of Gabriel." Sam interjects.

"Or at least Gabriel's vessel." Adam adds, crossing his arms. Jamie smiled, he looked a lot like Dean with that gesture. "Winchester is an old Anglo-Saxon name, and if Gabriel is also Loki…"

"Right. But Raphael…" Jamie trailed off, something else coming to mind. "I mean…well Winchester is a county in England. It's English Aristocracy. They would have owned slaves especially here in America."

Dean held his hands up towards his siblings, not liking the turn of conversation. "Woah, woah, woah, hold on a second!"

"Don't worry about it, Dean. Most upper class families were slave owners at one point in time." Adam told him. "You were saying, Jamie."

"I'm saying that if Raphael's meatsuit is related to us, it's distantly."

"Raphael's the redhaired step-child." Sam concluded.

Jamie nodded. "Yeah. He might have even just been created when Lucifer fell. He's not close to the others. It's Michael, Lucifer, and Gabriel who are the brothers."

"And Gabriel is the one who disappeared to Earth. For years." Dean said, giving Jamie a look.

"Okay, so I'm Raphael and Jamie's Gabriel. On to the elements." Adam grabbed the pen from Jamie and wrote "Fire" under Dean's name and "Earth" under Sam's.

"Okay, stop just a second." Dean reached across the table for the pen. "We don't know this for sure, and we have to be absolutely sure. Wouldn't fire be Lucifer's element?"

"The elements are neutral, Dean." Sam assured him. "But you're right, we need to be careful, because Lucifer when he was an angel was the angel of light. Which does tie him to fire."

Adam shook his head. "Right, but fire is also associated with passion and with heart."

Jamie nodded. "Those fit you most of all, Dean. You're our big brother, the one who would sacrifice everything, including your own life for us. " Dean looked down and Jamie and Sam glanced each other. "Anyway, um, earth is associated with wisdom and the body."

"Which would be Sam, moreso then Dean. Dean, you're physically strong, but your true strength is in your heart. Sam, everything you are comes from inside, body like a vessel. And wisdom…" Sam blushed at Adam's assertion. "Moving on. Gabriel is water, right? Water is courage and blood."

"It's about strength, right? Our greatest strengths?" Dean asks, looking around. "If Sam's smarts are what he has going for him I think courage and blood are yours, Adam, not Jamie's. You faced those ghouls without a second thought, and you're our blood, it's how we found you, it's what binds us to you."

"I agree," Sam grabbed the pen from Dean and wrote "Water" under Adam's name. "Which leaves air for Jamie. Which makes perfect sense because that's breath and what knowledge?" he gestured pointedly at his sister. "Exorcist, Vampire Slayer, you're almost better at lore then Dean. And you're a psychic, your telekinesis you manipulate gravity you manipulate the air already." Without another word he wrote "Air" under Jamie's name.

"You four work amazingly well together." Bobby commented from his place across the room. He had been watching them with quiet interest. They almost fed off each other. Dean's straightforwardness, Sam's reasonable awareness, Jamie's wealth of information, and Adam's insightfulness all worked as a collective unit. The old hunter was impressed to say the least. He had been waiting for Dean to trust Sam again, but he didn't expect Adam to be so forthcoming. He didn't exactly think teamwork was a Winchester trait.

"Yeah well, let's hope this dumb run of luck holds out." Dean commented, glancing at Bobby with a slight smirk before turning his attention back to his siblings. He didn't exactly buy whatever was stewing in his younger brothers and sister's head, but if the three of them all agreed he wasn't going to stand in their way. Obviously something big was going on if the ex-demon-blood junkie, the prophetess, and the long lost baby half-brother were all the same frequency. "So the rings?"

"Right." Sam reached for the rings in the middle of the table. "We don't know whose is whose." He stared down at the four rings, all interconnected. The simple gold band, the one he cut from War's hand seemed warmer than the other three. He adjusted his grip on the ring and the sensation spread throughout his entire body. "Guys." He took a breath and looked up at his siblings. "I think War is mine." Dean, Jamie, and Adam all turned to him. Jamie, through their telepathic link, asked if he was sure. He assured her that he was. "It's weird, but it just feels like it fits."

"So what, we're just gonna know?" Dean asked, looking at Sam and then Jamie. Both twins nodded, though Sam also shrugged. Their older brother rolled his eyes and shook his head in feign disbelief.

"Well that throws out my color theory." Adam said, his voice holding a small amount of dejection. "I thought I was on to something."

Jamie put a warm hand on her younger brother's shoulder. "It's a good observation all the same." She told him softly. Sam pulled the rings apart and grasped War's. The other three he laid out on the table. "Well, here goes nothing." The psychic hunter rolled her shoulders and held her hand out in front of the rings. All three rings trembled on the table as she focused her psychic energy towards the one calling to her. Suddenly Famine's ring, the silver band baring a black stone, leap into the air towards Jamie. She promptly snatched it and curled her fingers around it. "Woah."

"Woah." Adam echoed. He and Dean glanced at each other and then at the remaining two rings on the table. They stared at the rings for a long moment before Adam quickly spoke. "Pestilence."

"Death." Dean said at the same exact time. They reached forward and claimed their rings. Jamie nodded to herself, glancing at her brothers. "Alright. So, let's do this." Dean declared. He slid Death's ring unto his hand. Sam, followed by Jamie, and finally Adam all did the same. Dean curled and uncurled his fingers, looking at the ring. "Well I don't feel any different."

Sam opened his hands and stared like he expected something to happen. "I thought we'd like get powers or something?" He turned his hands over and sprawled his fingers out as if the action would make a difference.

Jamie shrugged turning around and pointing across the room. A book floated off the floor, but she still frowned deeply. "Yeah, nothing. Nothing I can't already do, anyway." She dropped her hand and the book fell back onto the floor. "Maybe we didn't choose the right rings."

"Uh…guys." Adam's voice came out in a panicked squeak which caused all three of his older siblings to whirl around, sliding into protective stances. Water was pooling at Adam's feet, dripping off his body in large, condensed droplets as though he had just had a pail of water poured over his head, except the water was coming from inside his body. It seemingly exploded from his skin, the droplets growing larger and stronger with each passing second. "Guys!" Adam said again, his blue eyes growing wide with fear. "How do I turn it off?!"

Sam raised an eyebrow and reached out for Adam's arm, but the second Sam's skin came in contact with Adam's his hand hardened and took on a dirt and stone like appearance. Sam gasped at the sudden intake of power, but Adam gasped in pain and cried out, causing his older brother to quickly release him.

"What the hell?" Dean yelled, half in disbelief as he stared at his youngest sibling. Instinctively he grabbed for the boy, but as he did so fire erupted from his arms. On contact with Adam, Dean was thrown across the room with a violent spray of water that left him crumpled on the ground.

"Dean!" Jamie leaped for her oldest brother, a whirlwind of air propelling her to him. But as she tried to lift him to his feet, a sudden shock ricocheted through her body, and she fell to the ground just as Dean was again engulfed in flames.

"Jesus Christ!" Bobby cursed, standing as far back from the siblings as possible. "What the hell is going on?"

"Balance." Came the reply. The four siblings turned to see Castiel standing in the doorway. "The elements all balance one another, you four in turn balance each other." The fallen angel strode carefully into the room, helping Jamie to her feet, and then laying a hand on Dean's shoulder. This quenched the fire that surrounded him. Adam had seemingly returned to normal, but Sam was staring wide eyed at his hands as the skin returned to its pale color. "Each element is strengthened or weakened or neutralized by another." Cas continued. "In turn, each of you either strengthens, or weakens, or neutralizes the power of your sibling."

"I think I understand." Jamie said softly, crossing her arms. "When Sam touched Adam, it weakened him but caused Sam's power to surface, so water must be weakened by earth, and earth in turn strengthened by water."

"And when Dean touched me, I felt this…it just shot through me." Adam tried to explain. "Fire must strengthen water."

"And water in turn weakens fire." Dean added. "But air strengthens fire…when Jamie touched me…I've never felt anything like that."

"Yeah me neither. It knocked me on my ass." Jamie mused. "Okay, so Adam is strongest with Dean, weakest with Sam, which means with me, air neutralizes water and vice versa."

Sam nodded. "Which means that Dean is strongest with you, weakest with Adam, and that has to mean that fire and earth, Dean and I, would be neutral together."

"So if you're neutral with me, and strongest with Adam, then with Jamie you're at your weakest." Dean concluded, looking at Sam. "So then air is strongest with earth, weakest with fire, and neutral with water."

"What about all four of us together?" Adam asked, turning to Castiel. "What does the balance do?"

"Defeats Lucifer." Was all Castiel said.

A/n: This chapter kinda sucks. It gets a lot better out from here, I promise.


	4. The fire inside me will burn me

Dean stared hard at his open palms, his emerald eyes focusing on every miniscule detail, every wrinkle, every crevice. If he stared long enough, he told himself, maybe the flames would appear. It wasn't working, however, he had been trying for almost an hour. He just could not get the fire he felt inside to manifest.

He felt it inside alright. From the moment they first appeared the flames leapt and licked at his subconscious, consuming all his thoughts and warping them so that wherever he looked he saw nothing but the rack, and Alistair's ashen face, twisted with diabolic pleasure. His torso ached with long-healed wounds. His shoulders protested movement as though still impaled with meat hooks. Half the time he couldn't tell whether the screams were hallucinations or his own voice.

He had retreated far from his siblings under the guise that they all needed a few days of practice in solitude to test the full scale of their abilities. It was an excuse to get into his baby and drive out to the middle of nowhere. He had hoped he could control his thoughts, contain the memories from Hell, and learn this ability. He had hoped for the first time in a long time, and he was almost surprised when it turned out to be false.

He was the eldest brother, the leader, the strong one, the one who had given his life so that his siblings could live. Fire was supposed to be lord over all the elements, Death the master of all, Michael the prince of Heaven, and yet here was Dean Winchester, the failure, the weakest link. He wasn't the man his father had raised him to be. He couldn't shoulder the burden that had been placed solely him, for him and him alone to carry out. This was his fight, and here he was, hiding, like a little child afraid of the dark. Pathetic.

The self-deprecating helped a little. It got the flames moving inside. He realized after a moment that if he focused on them long enough they would congregate together, sort of like strains of rope entwining around each other, and if he pushed on it he could force them to move. It was strange as hell in his mind, but it worked. He could feel the flames moving down his arm, towards his finger tips, but the sensation was too much. It was too much like the hot poker Alistair liked to jab him with. He lost focused too easily, and the flames came undone, once against shooting across his entire body.

"God fucking damnit!" He yelled across the abandoned field. A pair of crows nesting in the brush, flew away. He sank down quietly to the ground and sat there for a minute, trying to pull himself out of memories of torture and pain. The flames inside him burned, and it multiplied the pain, the mental quickly becoming physical and he was pretty sure he was having a minor psychological breakdown.

"Dean?" The next thing he saw were a pair of bright, sapphire eyes staring up at him in concern. Castiel was squatting down beside him, one hand resting firmly on his knee, the other hovering in the air as if reaching out to touch. Finally the other hand came to rest on his shoulder. "Dean?" The angel asked again, and this time Dean was startled, pulled back quickly into reality. The grip from the angel kept him from jumping into the air, but he still breathed in too quickly and his heart skipped a beat. "Are you alright?"

"Cas, how the hell did you get here? How the hell did you find me?" It took a few seconds, but he managed to get to his feet without the angel's help, backing away from his too-near presence.

"My _batteries_," He said the world carefully as if not entirely sure it was correct. "have been recharged." He explained. Dean mentally slapped himself. Of course Cas's angel powers, limited though they were, were back in action. Good. They needed all the help they could get. "Jamie told me where you were." He added, if a bit sheepishly.

Jamie. Of course, nothing got past his psychic little sister. She probably knew about his suffering too, his weakness. It wouldn't surprise him, not after she told him that she felt his anguish in hell as though it was happening to her. He really didn't want to think about that, it just made him feel that much more guilty, reminding him that much more of how he screwed up. He'd never admit it, but he felt responsible for Sam drinking demon blood, afterall he died and left Sam with Ruby, if he hadn't it would have never happened, Sam would have never wanted revenge in that way. For Jamie to feel even a fraction of his torture was way too much. But feel it she did. He knew she did. He remembered how she looked when she met him after he came back: pale, thin, almost frail even, her eyes were hollow and almost lifeless. She recovered quickly, a few days after they met Cas she was back to being strong and arrogant, but she was more distant than ever. He couldn't help feeling like he had come back from the grave only to lose both siblings.

"Dude, you don't use my sister like a supernatural lowjack." He doesn't know why he says it. It's completely untrue, hell Sam just did the same thing a few weeks ago to stop him when he had been planning to say yes to Michael. Of course he said something similar to Sam at the time.

Cas's face tightened in confusion. "She freely offered me the information. She was quite insistent that I visit you." Oh. Another thing Jamie was incredibly good at, forcing the envelope when it came to him and Cas. "So was Sam." So was Sam. His siblings were all against him. Another couple of days and Adam would probably be jumping on the "_Destiel"_ band wagon.

"Of course they were." He answered, taking a few more steps away from the angel. Cas was still staring at him like he was confused. "What?" His voice came out more tired than anything.

"I was wondering why they were so insistent that I visit you." He didn't mean to turn red, he really didn't. "Dean…you're blushing." Damn. "What's the matter?"

"Cas, Jamie and Sam, they…they think that you and I…"Oh Christ, what he had gotten himself into. Apparently the fire in his veins was also in his heart because he could feel the…_passion _he always secretly felt for the angel growing and it was spreading to another very uncomfortable location uncomfortably fast. He briefly wondered if he could set fire to something with his dick, and the thought was so amusing that he couldn't help laughing out loud. This, of course, only served to further Castiel's confusion, and he realized he had just dug himself a hole he wasn't getting out of anytime soon. "They think that you and I should be together." Bam. Where was his gun when he needed it.

Castiel didn't get the reference. "Well, we are together." He replied, completely stoic and monotone.

"Not that kind of together. Together as in _together_."

It started to dawn on the angel's face. The _virgin_ angel's face. Dean was pretty sure he was redder then the sun that was setting just behind them. "Oh." Was Castiel's reply. "They think we should _couple_?"

"Be a couple. Yes. I guess. Yeah."

Cas tilted his head and stared at Dean. "And what do you think?" No. No, just no. Dean Winchester was not about to answer that question. Not honestly, anyway. And then reality smacked him hard across the face and he remembered that in a few days he and his siblings would be going against Lucifer and probably Michael and that even if they won they would probably be dead in the end. It's not like he gave a damn what God thought of homosexuality. And all the people whose opinion he did give a damn about were either dead or frickin cheerleaders about "it." It being a relationship with Castiel.

"I…I guess…I mean…" He owed Castiel everything. The angel had pulled him off the rack and put him back together again. Hell, Cas fell from Heaven, literally, for Dean. One of the greatest sacrifices an angel can make Cas had made for Dean. Dean sure as hell could sacrifice a little bit of pride for Cas, especially when they might not be alive in a week. "If you want to."

Cas looked at him thoughtfully for a moment, and then walked over to him. He gave him the blank, emotionless stare that he always had for him, especially when he was invading his personal space, and then did the last thing Dean was expecting. He reached up and mashed his lips against Dean's. "I want to." He confirmed.

Dean grabbed unto Cas and shoved his mouth back unto the angel's. His lips were firm and sweet and he couldn't get enough of the taste. Cas shoved back just as forcefully. He had almost forgotten the last hour, but now the flames inside Dean's body flared up again. They roared and tugged and exploded inside him. With a hard shove, he knocked Castiel backwards. "No!" He commanded, afraid that he would lit the angel on fire at any second. "I can't…I'm burning Cas."

"No, you're not." Castiel replied firmly. "You just need to know how to tame them. Focus." He stepped towards Dean again, his hands moving to his face, his palms resting on his temples. "Calm down." He ordered, and Dean was somehow able to force his body to obey. "Focus on the flames. See them moving, snatch them up. You control them Dean, they do not control you."

"But Hell…" he protested. "I don't feel like I'm strong enough. I feel like I'm suffocating." The flames surged within him, and clamped like a hand around his throat.

"Hell is nothing but a memory. This is real." Cas's hands came down to his shoulders, where he had branded Dean's skin when he pulled him from the pit. "This is real." He said again, squeezing his fingers around his shoulders.

The gesture for whatever reason silenced the screaming. It erased Alistair's face. It healed his wounds. And Dean found the fire that remained was no longer a implement of torture but a vessel of power. The noose around his neck was now a gun in his hand, familiar, simple, but deadly. He stared down at his hands and found them alight with fire, but it did not move, it did not spread, not until he lifted his palm and pushed the fire outward. It sprayed across the field faster than light, leaving a burnt trail in its wake.

He turned back to find Cas smiling, a rare occurrence, especially these days. It sent Dean over the edge. A moment later he had the angel on his back in the middle of the field, his hips locked under his own, and his lips clamped around the smaller man's. "How did you do that?" He wanted to know.

"I didn't. You did." Cas reached up and touched Dean's chest. "Love, Dean, passion, desire, all workings of the heart where the fire within you originates. They will help you unlock your power." He raised up a little and started to kiss Dean again.

A/n: *insert really smutty sex scene here* hehe. So yes, Destiel this chapter. Sabriel will *start* to come around in the next chapter.


	5. The earth beneath me will swallow me

Earth. It's sandy, rocky, but full of life. Life that blooms in shades of green. Sam loves the forest after a fresh rain, when all that green is saturated, and the smell so fresh and overpowering, and the ground literally sticks to his shoes as he walks. Moments like this he feels as though the moist earth and wet leaves are a part of himself, and with the awakening of his newfound power they are physically apart of himself.

The earth is within him now, radiating from every crevice of his body. He can feel sheer power that pulsates just under his skin, and erupts from his flesh in a mix of rock, dirt, and leaves. It's not unlike the demon blood in stamina, but it feels differently, it's warm and…natural. He finds as he gains more control that he can mold himself to the ground and become apart of it, and that it bends to his will. He can force the ground to open and swallow all manner of physical matter whole. And it terrifies him. Terrifies him how easy it is, how easily manipulated, how easily changed by his will. The will that has been broken time and again.

The wounds go deep, and they pus and fester in the depths of his soul. Marked. Forever marked. From the moment Azazel bled into his mouth he has been marked by darkness, by evil. He can feel it, as he grows stronger the darkness grows stronger. It's already beginning to take hold.

Using his powers is physically and mentally draining, and Sam finds he needs to sit down. The dirt is warm beneath his body, and he runs his fingers through the soft grains. The world is hazy and moving in front of his face, it bothers him at first, but soon empty blackness dulls his senses and forces him into unconsciousness.

He awakes on Bobby's musty old couch, his head pounding from not being properly elevated and his mouth full of cotton. Surprisingly enough Adam is the sibling asleep in the chair beside him, chin against his chest, shotgun folded under his arm. He was expecting Dean or Jamie. With a short groan he sits up and rubs his eyes. His baby brother wakes, startled slightly and looks over. "You okay?" His voice is lower than Sam remembers, laced with exhaustion and booze, the way Dean's usually is late at night after watch. Figures that the kid has Jamie's eyes and Dean's mannerisms, but at least he got his brains, him thinks with a small smirk.

"Yeah. How long was I out?" He swings his lean legs over the couch and sits up properly, rubbing his eyes to clear out the last of the haziness.

"Couple hours. Dean thought you were dead." There is a slight bit of amusement in Adam's voice and Sam huffs a note of amusement as well. "He and Jamie are outside; don't ask me what they're doing out there. It's only twenty degrees."

"Well you can have the couch, I'm done with it." He pats the younger man's arm as he gets up and crosses over to the kitchen, smirking when he hears Adam's body hit the cushions just before he heads out the door.

Dean and Jamie are lying on the hood of the Impala, staring up at the starless night sky. There's an old blanket thrown over their laps, and Sam has to stop and take in the sight. His sister is curled up close to Dean, her head resting on their brother's chest. Dean has an arm thrown over her, the other tucked behind his head. He smiles to see his siblings so relaxed, and decides not to disturb them.

He quietly strolls through the rows of broken down cars with his hands shoved in his pockets. A figure moves in the shadows and it startles him. "Whose there?" He calls, one hand groping for the gun hidden in his waistband.

"Hello Sammy." The figure grows closer and he backs up, drawing his gun, only to lower it in shock as the archangel Gabriel, the deceased archangel Gabriel, strolls casually up to him with a grin plastered on his sharp features. "Miss me?" He questions, raising an eyebrow with a smirk.

"You're dead." He blurts out, trying to remain calm though his hands tremble. He would never admit it, not to Jamie, and certainly not to Dean, but he has felt guilty ever since Gabriel sacrificed his life to Lucifer to save theirs. They dragged the renegade archangel, who was content to stand on the sidelines and watch, into this. They got him killed. It was just another death on their hands and yet it was different. It hit Sam below the belt. He didn't have words for the angel; he could only stand there staring.

Gabriel chuckled mercilessly, a chocolate bar materializing into his hand. "You seem spooked Sam, anything wrong?" He took a large bite of the brown candy as though he expected Sam to answer. After a few seconds he relented just a little. "The answer to your first question is God did it. The answer to your second question is I have no friggin idea."

Sam shifted from one foot to the other, and then collapsed unto his knees, grabbing Gabriel's jacket and bursting into tears. "I'm so sorry Gabriel." He whispered to the bewildered angel. "You died because of me. It was my fault. It's always been my fault."

"Uh, Sam…"Gabriel blinked in confusion several times before gently patting the hunter's shoulder. "Sam…I'm alive, I'm back, it's okay."

Sam shook his head, sniffing and rubbing his face with the back of his hand. "It's not okay. The rings gave us power and all I can feel is darkness. It's inside me. Evil is inside me, and it's growing stronger everyday. I don't know how to stop it, or how to control it. I'm so afraid I'm going to hurt someone, again." He confessed, the tears still flowing freely as he tightened his grip on Gabriel's jacket.

"The horsemen's rings?" Sam nodded in confirmation. Gabriel knelt down slowly and stared into Sam's eyes for a moment. "Sammy…those rings, this power, this was meant for you. It's not good, but it's not evil either, it simply is. For good or for evil you will be the one to decide." He brushed away fresh tears with his thumb. "Darkness may be inside you, Sammich, but it doesn't control you. You control you."

The hunter sniffed and looked up at him. "Are you sure?" He asked hoarsely.

"Of course." The archangel grabbed Sam's neck and pulled him into an awkward hug. "So earth, right?"

"Mmmhmm." Sam muttered into his neck, relishing in the feeling of the moist skin at Gabriel's nap.

"Not surprised. Earth is the body, the cradle of the elements. You're the one who keeps your siblings grounded."

He thought about that for a few minutes. It was true, he decided, Dean and Jamie, especially Dean were always kept in check by his actions. More than he wanted to admit. His twisted view of morality while drinking demon blood had been what cemented Dean's desire to do what's right. "The body is also easily corrupted." His voice was laced with guilt.

"You're not as easily corrupted as you think." Gabriel pulled back and put his hand firmly on Sam's check. "What you did, the demon blood, you were lost and starved for revenge."

"I was weak."

"You were human. And you recognize your faults, you're remorseful. If you want forgiveness it has to come from inside yourself, before it comes from anyone else. But truly, they've already forgiven you, not you have to forgive yourself, Sam." The smaller man leaned back into him. "You always were my favorite." He said after a moment, earning a laugh from the taller man. "Didn't think you cared so much, though. Especially since I did kinda gank your big brother."

"I think you dying by your brother's hand makes us even."

"Oh does it?"

"Yeah. Gabriel I…" Sam pulled away and looked at the former Trickster with pleading eyes. "I don't know how to explain it, but I've always felt this weird…connection when I looked at you. Like I could bare my soul for you."

Gabriel laughed, moving Sam's hair off his face and pressing his forehead against his. "Of course you can, Sammich. I'm not leaving you again. I'm here to stay."

"Are you going to grip me tight and raised me from perdition?" The hunter whispered.

Gabriel smirked, pulling back and staring up into Sam's brilliant green eyes yet again. "I think that's our brothers bag, don't you? No, I'm gonna grip you tight and keep you for myself."

Sam stared down at the angel and relished at the feeling of calmness that washed over him. The darkness that had entrapped him seemed to melt away, and the light radiating off Gabriel penetrated his flesh. He never thought he'd love again, after Jess, never thought he could feel that light around his heart again. But it was here. It was in Gabriel, it was Gabriel. His angel. His own. And as he leaned forward to take the archangel's lips in his own, he could feel the earth beneath their feet, and it felt as natural as his own body, just as Gabriel's lips felt like an extension of himself.

a/n: I think this more Destiel-ish then Sabriel-ish. I blame it on the fact I had Destiel moments playing on youtube when I was writing this.


	6. The air above me will suffocate me

Jamie crossed her arms and leaned against the doorway as she watched her older brothers. Dean and Cas were leaning against the Impala, beer bottles in their hands and Dean's neck bent low, chin on his chest so that Cas could whisper into his ear. Sam and Gabriel were sitting on an old blanket not far from them, a picnic basket of all things between them, both snaking on whatever the archangel had conjured. She frowned slightly, turning to go back into the house.

"Jamie! Come join us!" Gabriel called across the driveway.

Just as she was about to respond a soft voice from inside called to her. "Jamie…" She whirled around to find Adam standing in a puddle, soaking wet from head to toe. "It happened again." Her younger brother had a hard time learning to control his new power; even conjuring just a few drops could easily leave him drenched. Each sibling had a trigger: for Dean it was pain, for Sam it was fear, for Jamie it was anger, but Adam had yet to find the emotion that triggered his power and as a result his power was the most out of control. "I'm all out of dry clothes." He moaned pitifully.

"Alright…stand back, let me try something." Adam obediently took a few steps backward. Jamie held her hand up, feeling the air around her. She steadied her stance, willing the air to conjure in her palm. Swirls of white wisps swirled from her hand. Slowly she began to move her hand, settling it in front of Adam. Narrowing her eyes she focused the air over him and then released it. The blast streamed over him and Adam yelped, covering his eyes. After a moment he lowered his hands and found that he was completely dry. "There."

Her baby brother's eyes widened in amazement. "Wow, you have a lot of control over that."

His sister shrugged almost sheepishly. "It's really not much different from telekinesis, it moves a little differently, it's a little harder to control, but it's basically the same. Plus, you're the only one I can do something like that on. If I tried it on Sam, I'd probably kill him. If I tried it on Dean, I'd probably kill myself. You and I are neutral." She walked out unto the porch and sat on the steps.

Adam joined her a moment later. "For me it's the opposite, right? Strengthened by Dean, weakened by Sam." Jamie nodded. "It's weird. Water is supposed to be steady, and unwavering, but I'm not. Maybe that's why I can't control it." He looked towards the hunter and frowned.

Jamie put her hand on his shoulder and held her hand out. "Air is free; it's always moving, always changing, never in the same place." She seemed to 'catch' the air, white wisps again streaming around her hand, which she brought to her lips and blew, causing them to scatter. "I used to be like that, when my fiancé was alive we never put down roots. We lived on the road, never stayed in one place for long. But then Dean made his deal, and I wanted to keep running. I believed if I ran long enough, stayed away, it wouldn't hurt as much. I was wrong. AJ knew I was wrong. We got an apartment, he proposed, and then he died. But it didn't…I wasn't, I'm not like that anymore. I have ties now, a family, a responsibility, I belong somewhere. It's why I can reign the air in, why I can manipulate it, because I'm not free. And you, Adam, you're not steady, so you can throw water off balance." He looked thoughtful at this, and she smiled at him.

The smile however quickly turned to a look of horror. Something new had just arrived, and it sent a psychic jolt through the young prophetess. "Adam!" She yelled grabbed the blonde boy by his shirt and throwing him down the last step, behind her as she whirled around. "Get back." She hissed. Castiel and Gabriel were already on their feet, also aware of the new presence. They teleported to Jamie's side, while Dean and Sam rushed for their younger siblings. "Raphael." Jamie sneered as the dark angel stepped out of the shadows. Castiel and Gabriel stepped in front of her, and Dean pulled her to his side. He and Sam wedged Adam protectively between them.

"What are you doing here?" Gabriel snapped, his voice low and threatening.

"Hello Gabriel. I've come to have words with the Prophetess." Raphael replied, his gaze still focused on the girl. Jamie curled her upper lip into a snarl, the wind beginning to pick up around her. At her side Dean's temperature spiked suddenly, hands threatening to ignite, while Sam also grew warm, his skin thickening. Adam had turned cold, and water began to build around him. At the display Raphael's eyes grew wide, and fury was evident on his face. "What is this? They have the rings?" He demanded, looking from Castiel to Gabriel.

"Michael's services are no longer required." Cas said evenly, his pointed gaze locked on Raphael, angel blade drawn and ready.

"Get out of here, Raphael." Gabriel ordered. "Now." He drew his angel blade, holding it threatening close to the taller archangel's neck.

Raphael, however, would not back down so easily. Too quick for human eyes to detect he drew his own blade, clashing it with Gabriel's. Incensed, the messenger archangel fought back. Cas moved to help him, but was blindsided by a follower of the Raphael's.

"Cas!" Dean leapt forward to protect his angel, landing in a protective crouch. Fire streamed forth from his hands, igniting the angel who had attack his lover and sending him screaming back to Heaven. In an instant however, three more angels appeared. Two of them ripped at Dean's arms, securing them behind his back, while the third pressed his sword into the neck of the righteous man.

"Ugh!" Sam slammed his fist into the ground, causing it to quake and fissure, the momentum directed towards Raphael. The archangel was thrown off balance long enough for Gabriel to strike him down.

Raphael, however, blinked out and appeared behind Sam. "Sammy, duck!" Sam hit the ground. Jamie reared back and shot her hands outward, causing a harsh blast of wind to rip into Raphael. Gabriel caught his brother by the throat, angel blade pressed against his jugular. As he whirled around however he saw two more angels restraining Sam, another had Adam by the throat, and four more had walled Jamie, their blades all poised at her throat. "Sam!" Momentarily distracted by the entrapment of his mate and the rest of the Winchesters, Gabriel dropped his guard enough for Raphael to reverse the grip.

"You will not harm the prophetess, or the righteous man." Cas hissed, despite having an angel blade held on his chest. "Or Lucifer's vessel."

"You're correct." Raphael chuckled darkly. "But we will kill the spare." He gestured in Adam's direction. Dean immediately began struggling, his horrified gaze locked on to his youngest brother.

"No!" Jamie screamed as the angel who held Adam raised his sword, the tip directed to his chest. "No! I'll go, I'll go!" She turned to Raphael. "Just let my brothers, and Cas and Gabriel go."

"Jamie, no!" Sam protested, Dean and Adam vocalizing their agreement.

"Stop." Jamie shook her head. "My fiancé died because of me. I'll be damned if I let my brothers share his fate." She told them firmly. A second later, Raphael and his angels disappeared with her.

Jamie glanced around quickly and found herself standing in the green room. She winced at the paintings of the Apocalypse and Final Judgment that adorned the walls, cursing herself for not noticing them a year ago, when she and Dean had been trapped here by Zachariah to prevent them from interfering with Sam releasing Lucifer. This was also the room where Adam was taken from them, after Dean killed Zachariah. She half expected Adam and Sam's blood to still be on the carpet, a reminder of the torture the head angel had inflicted to force Dean to say yes.

"Beautiful, isn't it." A swift kick to her back sent her sprawling to the floor. With a groan she rolled unto her side, looking up to see Raphael standing over her. "You pathetic, disobedient, wretched, BITCH!" Raphael closed his fist and turned it, causing Jamie to cry out as her stomach seemed ripped from her abdominal wall. She coughed and blood spurted from her mouth. "What gives you the right to interfere with our plans, to change destiny? Hmm? And we're suppose to protect you, when you're no better, when you've fallen as Lucifer fell?" He wretched his fist again and Jamie vomited blood unto the floor. "You are nothing." He spat. She whimpers, something hard clanks against her chest. She reaches up and feels it. Her St. Michael's medal.

"Illa vox clamantis in deserto!" A new voice sounded through the room which filled with a blinding white light. Jamie felt herself instantly grow stronger as it moved over her. "Te subvertet me Raphael." She gets to her feet as a black haired man in a dark utility jacket appears in front of Raphael. He places his hand on the archangel's chest, and flames fill the eyes and mouth of the meatsuit. The vessel burns before Jamie's eyes, leaving only a charred mark on the carpet. The light dissipates, seemingly sucked into the eyes and mouth of the man, who turns to look at her.

Jamie steps back in shock, her eyes widening. The vessel looks exactly like a younger version of her father. "Domini mei Michael?" She asks softly, the medal still in her grasp. "Why are you wearing my father?"

"I'm not. This is the vessel that our Father has formed for me." His voice is lower than her father's. He takes a step towards her and she recoils. "Do not be afraid, prophetess, I am not here to harm you."

"You'll forgive me if I don't believe that, my lord." Michael smirked and snapped his fingers. They instantly appeared on a sandy beach by the ocean. Jamie gasps a little, feeling the sand beneath her feet, the wind in her hair, and the smell of ocean water coming off the waves. "Where are we?" She looked down and revealed she was barefoot and clothed only in a long, loose fitting black dress.

"Does it matter?" Michael took a seat in one of two chairs set up in front of a small fire. "Sit." He motioned to the other chair. Jamie obediently sat down. "It appears my father has changed his mind about your brothers."

"What do you mean, my lord?" She asked softly.

"I mean, the Apocalypse is not to take place afterall. Dean and Sam Winchester are no longer vessels. Of course, Lucifer doesn't know that."

"So you're going to stop us?" Michael shook his head. "Then why…"

"You're still the Voice, Jamie. Until Father shows me otherwise I am still bound to you and you to me."

"How do I know this isn't a trick?"

Michael smirked and got up, going over to her. He knelt down beside her chair and she curled up, protectively. His eyes wondered over her body, and she felt them on her. Finally he reached out and cupped her cheek. "I heard you, every night. You prayed to me so devoutly, night after night after night. Why do you think that is?"

She shook her head, moving her face from his grasp. "Because I was raised a Catholic, and you're the patron saint of hunters. I didn't know any better."

"I protected you."

"By sending other men to die for me. My mother, my father, AJ, my brothers, and the people I tried to save. You put them in harms way to save me. I wasn't worth all those lives."

"You are to me." He said softly. She couldn't look at him, those green eyes have haunted her ever since she, Dean, and Sam got back from the past. "You're bound to me, Jamie. That's why you prayed to me, that's why you're wearing that necklace, that's why you're so close to Dean. You understand me." A tear fell down her cheek, and she squeezed her eyes shut as Michael raised up and bent over her. He smelled like a hunter: motor oil, bullet residue, leather. "You're my prophetess, and you always will be." He placed a soft kiss on her lips and she found herself kissing back.

When she opened her eyes she was standing in the exact same place she had been when Raphael took her away. Adam, Sam, and Dean rushed to hug her and she hugged them back, assuring them that she was okay. Sam's arms wrapped protectively around her shoulders, Dean's rested around her waist, and Adam's hand slipped into her own. Across the yard Michael stood, with Gabriel on one side and Castiel on the other, the three angels speaking quietly in Enochian. Michael's head came up and his eyes found her. She stared back at him and the look that past between them was not lost on either sets of their brothers.

A/n: I really hope this doesn't sound like an Edward/Bella re-hash. I almost put Michael in AJ's body but decided on a "look-alike" John at the last minute. It's more appropriate, I think, to give Michael his "own" vessel. Plus if I put him in AJ it would make the upcoming Michael/Adam kinda weird.


	7. The water around me will drown me

God knows Adam has never felt like he belonged. Not in his small town, not in his school, not even when he moved away and started college. Sure, people knew him. They knew his middle name, his grades, his desire to be a physician, but they did not know him. He loved his mother more than anything, but she was a ghost. Too often he remembers the times she wasn't there, rather than the times she was. Only when his father visited, those few meager days that he will forever keep close to his heart, did he feel like he belonged somewhere.

He stares at the crumbled picture he's found at the bottom of his sister's backpack. It's of her, and John, and Dean, and Sam. They're all bloody and torn up, their faces grave, but the pain and despair and weight of the world that Adam sees in every moment isn't there. He doesn't know the date, but he figures it must have been several years ago. Sam looks young, and the darkness in his eyes isn't there. Dean doesn't carry hell. Jamie isn't so sullen and withdrawn. He wonders what his siblings were like in those days, when they were something close to happy. Before God and angels and demons and the Devil tightened nooses around their necks.

And the thought makes him feel robbed. He loves his siblings, he won't deny it, but he knows that the siblings he knows are not the men and the woman they were supposed to be. They're harder, colder, more reserved, and locked away. They've lost too much, been through too much, and it still keeps coming. They've saved the world again, and again, and it still needs to be saved. No rest for the wicked, no rest for the Winchesters. Dean is the one who's been through hell, who carries hell in his heart and his memories, scared and maimed by it, and vicious, cruel, and unforgiving because of it. Sam is marked by evil, his soul burned, and his spirit withered with guilt and despair, the only driving force in his life is the need for penance, the unrequenched thirst for forgiveness for a sin unforgiveable. And Jamie, whose died a thousand times in watching every single person she's ever loved die in front of her. Dean will die for his family, Sam will die for his sins, but Jamie would rather die just to die and escape the immortal circle that has been bestowed on her morality for the sake of her precious gift of prophecy.

And where does that leave him? Him, Adam Milligan who should have been Adam Winchester. Who should have been taught how to fire a double barrel, and hotwire a car instead of how to throw a baseball, and balance chemistry reactions. Who should have laid down salt lines instead of playing with matchbox cars, and killed a werewolf instead of staying up all night at a frat party. He's been lied to, and it doesn't sit well with him.

"Adam." It's Dean who calls to him from behind the door. "Adam, awake up." He assumes his baby brother is asleep, and Adam isn't sure how to take the fact that his big brother thinks he could possibly sleep at a time like this. "Adam!"

It's the third time Dean calls his name that the youngest finally gets up and pulls the door open. Dean is dressed, jacket on and shotgun over one shoulder, ready to go, ready to hunt, ready for anything and everything. His oldest brother is always ready, or at least he tries damn hard to convince everyone that he is. He roughly thrusts Adam his navy blue utility jacket, because Adam only has the clothes on his back, without a word, only a nod to follow him. Adam grabs the gun Sam has given him from its place on the nightstand before following Dean down the stairs.

Downstairs Sam slides his dark brown coat over his broad shoulders and picks up a knapsack from the floor, slinging over one shoulder. Jamie walks in from the kitchen wearing her black leather jacket and a similar knapsack. Her hair is pulled back in a French braid, which strikes Adam as odd, having grown accustom to seeing his sister with her hair down. He catches sight of her hunting knife secured against her hip. Sam grabs what looks suspiciously like fishing rods from a nearby wall. "What's going on?" He fails to hide the confusion in his voice.

Jamie is the first to answer. She's grinning ear to ear, and it makes her sapphire eyes sparkle. "We're going camping." She announces.

"Why can't Gabriel just turn the car into a four star hotel?" Adam grumbles as he sits down on the log bench beside Sam, whose cooking the fish he and Dean caught earlier over the open fire.

Sam chuckles at Adam's complaint, meticulously turning over each fish to evenly brown its skin. "Come on, little brother. This is fun." He sent him a geninue smile and Adam couldn't help but notice that his big brother looked just a little bit less on edge.

Still, the youngest stubbornly replies "Not to me." He looks from the fire over to where the angels and Dean are gathered. They're standing just on the edge of the clearing, where the trees start to move closer together. Castiel is dressed differently for once, in jeans and one of Dean's flannel shirts, and Sam's tan colored jacket that's obviously too big. After a moment he slides his hand into Dean's and Dean squeezes. Adam almost looks away.

He blinks and realizes there's another angel with them that he failed to notice before. The inhabited vessel is a young male with dark hair and a slight stature. He's leaning closest to Michael, his shoulders hunched and his arms crossed. Quietly Adam gets up and walks over to the tree that Jamie is standing against just a few yards from the group. Her arms are also crossed, and she appears to be watching intently. "Who's that?" He tries to sound casual, but his eyes drift curiously to his sister, waiting for an answer. "The new angel." He adds and then feels stupid; of course Jamie is going to know who he means.

"Samandriel." She answers, her expression remains intense and she doesn't look at him when she speaks. "He's one of Heaven's youngest angels. There's trouble up there, supporters of Raphael are falling into disobedience. Michael and Gabriel are worried they might join Lucifer."

"How can they disobey Michael? Isn't he like their general or something?"

"Michael is prince of hosts and general of the armies of heaven. All garrisons, all legions are under his control, but Raphael's supporters are questioning Michael's judgment. They've christened me the Whore of Babylon and are trying to convince others that I've lead Michael astray."

"I thought you killed the Whore?"

"We did." There's a tone in Jamie's voice that makes Adam think she doesn't want to talk about the incident that occurred just a day or so before he was resurrected. Sam has told him that the Whore was a sort of mortal enemy for Jamie, as the prophetess, but he failed to elaborate. Still, the youngest knew better then to press Jamie or Dean for information.

So Adam sulked off, away from camp, but not before Sam yelled at him to not wander far. He was sure Sam had said it loud enough that Dean and the angels heard it, and he could just imagine the looks on all their faces, especially Dean's. He despises the way his siblings treat him as though he's a child, and they each do it differently, adding to his frustration. Dean is blatantly honest, he doesn't coddle him, makes it known that as the youngest it's his job to stay out of the way and not get killed. Too young to be trusted, too young to be a 'real' hunter, or maybe just too inexperienced. Jamie, at least, isn't as cold and terse as Dean. Sam is worse; he veils his opinions with friendly words and a 'helping' hand.

The lake water laps the shore with quiet, thin waves as Adam sits down at the edge, and stares into the cool, clear pool at his feet. After a moment he focuses his eyes on the waves, his hands impulsively itching forward, palms up. The waves rise to attention and he makes a circle gesture with his hands, causing the water to spin in tidal wave fashion. It amuses him for a few moments, but he's quickly bored with the practice. He knows he shouldn't take his abilities for granted, it took way too long for him to learn to control the water, but he finds himself frustrated.

So, he gets to his feet and takes off his jacket, followed by his shoes and socks. He rolls his jeans up past his ankles and tentatively steps into the water. It's icy at his flesh, but he ignores the sensation, taking a few more steps. Finally, ankle deep, he heaves a deep breath and concentrates. He feels the water rushing around him, and rushing inside him. It runs in his veins and he melds it to his skin, letting it overtake him. At his feet the waves bubble and he feels himself rise unto the brink. Carefully, he takes a step. He's surprised by how natural it feels to walk on the water and after a few steps he finds he no longer has to hold his breath and concentrate so hard. He treads across the water as though it's solid ground, relishing in the feeling of power that washes over him.

"Adam!" Michael's sudden call startles him and his concentration breaks. He falls through the water, which turns violent and loud, his head disappearing under crashing waves. He heaves a breath out of shock and water fills his lungs. The world darkens immediately. Strong arms suddenly wrap around him, pulling him to the surface, heaving him unto solid ground. He coughs and sputters, unable to breathe and until warm fingers press against his forehead. Blinking he stares up into Michael's concerned green eyes. "Are you alright?"

He takes a breath that doesn't hurt and nods. Michael helps him to his feet and throws his arm around his shoulders. "I did not mean to startle you. Dean and Jamie sent me to get you." He explains softly. Another touch and Adam finds that his clothes are dry. "What were you doing?"

"Practicing." He mumbles. "Obviously I need it."

Michael's eyes search his face in confusion. "But you've mastered your ability very well."

Adam chuckles humorlessly. "Dean set fire to a whole damn forest. Sam can turn himself until solid rock. And Jamie can frickin fly. What can I do except make a little tidal wave? And it's hard if not nearly impossible for me to control water if I conjure it. I end up all wet."

Michael's expression did not change. "You are not your siblings." He said simply. "Their triumphs are not your triumphs, and their failings are not your failings. And they have their failings. Jamie has plummeted from the sky on multiple occasions. Sam has trouble reverting back from his rock state. And Dean, well, Dean has burned himself more times than even angels can keep tract of."

"That really doesn't make me feel better." Adam remarked, sitting down on a rock. Michael frowned and sat beside him.

"What is really troubling you?"

He sighed and looked away. "Nothing."

"You feel unimportant, why? You've very much necessary."

"Not unimportant so much as unappreciated. And…I don't know."

"You don't feel like your siblings love you?"

Adam looked up and narrowed his eyes. "Stop reading my mind, angel." It sounded harsher then he wanted it to, but Michael didn't seem fazed. "They treat me like I'm a child, and worse they don't treat me like I'm their brother. Even Sam is all fake, it's just nice words and smiles."

"Your siblings are trying to cope with a very serious event. There has been a lot thrown at all of you, and you all are responding differently. Dean is very emotionally closed off. Sam is racked with guilt. Jamie has lost so much."

"This isn't exactly easy for me either! It's like my entire life was a lie."

"Your life was not a lie, Adam." Michael replied firmly. "It was different, yes, but you were given the tools necessary to make you who are today. To prepare you for this life, for this destiny." Adam scoffed in response, but the archangel wasn't deterred. "And give your siblings a chance. It's difficult to bond with someone new."

"They all seem pretty cozy with you angels." Adam spat.

Michael sighed, actually sighed. "That is because each of 'us angels' were made for them. Our grace is one with their souls."

"Whatever. So where is my special angel gracemate?"

Before the archangel could answer Samandriel appeared. "My lord Michael." He said humbly. "Jamie Winchester requests to know what is keeping you and Adam Milligan."

"Adam Winchester." Michael and Adam corrected at the same time, though Adam found he could not take his eyes off the vessel in front of him. Those eyes were breath-taking, as clear and calm and blue as the ocean on a summer's day. Michael cleared his throat. "Adam, this is Samandriel. Samandriel, Adam _Winchester_."

Samandriel's eyes came to focus on Adam, and the youngest sibling almost faltered at the gaze. Beautiful.

a/n: Okay, so not so hardcore Adam/Michael, but still a nice fluffy moment, right?


End file.
